The UNM College of Education Department of Special Education is hosting the annual Dr. Jane Blumenfeld Lecture with special guest Maya Kalyanpur. “It’s Just Easier to Not Make a Big Deal about It: Including cultural difference in inclusive special education” will be presented on Thursday, March 28 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Domenici Auditorium on north campus.
Assumptions about language, behavior and the structure of schooling impact which students are perceived as having disabilities. Kalyanpur’s research, conducted in the US and abroad, explores the role of culture in perceptions of academic success and failure and what it means to be a “good” student.
Kalyanpur, Professor of Special Education at the University of San Diego, focuses on multicultural issues relating to disability and inclusive education. She began her career as a teacher of children with intellectual disability in India, and has researched mainstream values deeply embedded in the culture of special education and the implications for families from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds.
She has published widely on this research, served as an international advisor on inclusive education to the Ministry of Education in Cambodia, and received a Fulbright award to study services for students with learning disabilities in India.
The 2019 Blumenfeld Lecture is generously supported by the Dr. Jane Blumenfeld Endowment for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Special Education Assessment and Diagnosis.
There will be a reception with refreshments following the lecture.